Dust and Ashes
by notmanos
Summary: Movieverse Logan Angel t.v. series crossover: Leaving L.A., Logan encounters mutants who say they're from Alkali Lake and seeking revenge. Logan joins them on a mission that starts feeling more and more like a trap, but could hold a key to his past.
1. Part 1

Disclaimer:The characters of Angel are owned by 20th Century Fox and Mutant Enemy;the character of Wolverine is also owned by 20th Century Fox and Marvel Comics.I'm just borrowing them.No copyright infringement intended. 

N.B.: Takes place shortly after the "X Men" movie and during "Angel" season two, and right after "Non Zero Possibility". 

    DUST AND ASHES 

    1 

    Not for the first time,Logan wondered if he was going to get out of L.A. alive. 

It didn't matter that he couldn't see them in the motorcycle's sideview mirror;he could feel their eyes skidding along his back,leaving an itch between his shoulder blades. 

After several blocks of pointless and confusing maneuvers that didn't seem to lose them,he decided he'd had enough.He wanted to get this over with. 

But first,he wanted a beer. 

He pulled off into the parking lot of the first bar he came across,a dive that looked like it was built from trouble itself.Which was good,because when the shit hit the fan at least they could deal with it. 

He stood for a moment,in the cool shadow of the decrepit,graffitied old tavern,where the heat didn't radiate from the pavement more than it oozed like blood from an old wound,and watched for any movement at all.But traffic was steady on the road,and no one else turned in-could they sense him somehow? 

Fine;he was going in.If they wanted to follow and get their asses kicked,that was their choice.  
And,if he was right,they would. 

The bar's interior was as dim, smokey,and depressing as he anticipated,stinking of old cigarette smoke,stale beer,and sawdust with a tinge of vomit underneath,which was always indicative of a classy joint.He took a stool at the scarred wooden bar and ordered a beer from the bartender,a large man with no neck and a bulbous bald head that could have belonged to an alien on "The X Files";he was certainly ugly enough to have been one.And he didn't smell that good either. 

The guy's tiny,porcine grey eyes glared at him as he gave him his beer,and Logan guessed he was the type who didn't like strangers.It made him want to move in and never leave,just to piss him off even more. 

The t.v. behind the bar nattered like an idiot,blaring some dumb show that featured scantily clad women who couldn't quite manage being lifelike,but whatever sound there was was drowned by the wooden clacks of men playing pool at a table in the back and the jukebox, now playing an old Soundgarden song which rise over the rest of the ambient noise like a comforting thought. 

"Nothing seems to kill me,no matter how hard I try..." The singer crooned in an eerie yet tired voice,like he had learned it from hard experience.Logan idly wondered if he was a mutant too. 

"They're playing your song,aren't they?"A deep,resonant male voice asked,and he glanced up to see a tall,impressively muscled man standing beside him,holding something out from a chain around his neck."Alkali Lake?" 

It was then Logan saw he was holding out a pair of dogtags. 

Logan felt others beside him,so he turned and saw a woman beside  
him,and another man just beyond her,both holding out similar dog  
tags. 

The shock burned through him like acid,and for a moment he  
didn't know what to do or say.He always knew he hadn't been  
alone,but he was never sure if anyone else survived. 

"You were following me,"he guessed,still not certain if they  
were friend or foe. 

"I'm sorry about that,"the first muscular man said.Logan looked  
carefully at his dogtags before he hid them beneath his shirt  
once more.They had a serial number,and the name Shrike."But we  
had to make sure it was you. 

"Wolverine,we need your help." 

    "These stains will come out,right?"Wesley asked,coming through  
the door of the Hyperion Hotel,followed closely by Angel and  
Gunn.Cordelia saw Wesley was holding out the front of his blue  
shirt,which had a large,black splotch on it. 

"Soak it for a while.I think so,"Angel said,and Gunn looked like  
he was trying not to laugh at the idea of Angel giving laundry  
tips.It was pretty funny. 

"What is that?"She asked,putting her ice pack down on the couch  
beside her.The throbbing in her head had mellowed to a dull ache  
now,something far more tolerable,but she wasn't ready to do  
cartwheels yet. 

"I think its Hyrerian demon blood,"Wes admitted,trying hard to  
suppress a look of disgust."The vampires were using it as part  
of a ritual." 

"They threw it on you?"Cordelia asked. 

Wesley seemed hesitant to answer."Not as such..." 

"He tripped and fell onto the table,"Gunn elaborated,glancing  
around the hotel lobby."Hey,where's Englebert Humperdink?" 

"Who?"She replied. 

"The guy with the sideburns and a big stick up his  
ass-Logan."Gunn stashed the battle axe and Wesley's crossbow  
underneath the front desk as Angel glanced around and frowned. 

"He's gone,isn't he?"Angel wasn't really asking a question.She  
could see,in the slightly pained expression on his face,that he  
already knew. 

She nodded very carefully,sure not to aggravate her volitile  
head."He's not the kind for long goodbyes." 

"Or any goodbyes,"Wesley said,joining Angel in the frown  
parade."It would have been the polite thing to do." 

Gunn snorted derisively."Yeah,and he always struck me as Miss  
Manners." 

"He's been through a lot,"Angel said,and Cordelia couldn't help  
but notice an almost guilty look in Angel's dark brown eyes.Did  
something happen at that wacko Flemming's place that he didn't  
mention?"I can't blame him for leaving." 

Wesley shrugged his narrow shoulders,still managing to hold his  
shirt out,as it was obvious he didn't want it touching his  
skin.And now that he was closer,she could smell it too.What did  
Hyrerians eat,dirty sweatsocks?"Perhaps we'll see him again." 

"Maybe,"Angel said,in a somber way that suggested they'd see  
Logan again as soon as Hell froze over,and he became not only  
Human,but an insurance salesman in Petaluma. 

"Maybe I could change,"Wesley suggested. 

Angel gestured vaguely towards his room upstairs."Help  
yourself.Everybody's borrowing my shirts lately." 

She gave him a small smirk as she got up from the lobby sofa and gathered her coat from the rack."Well,I hate to leave you guys with your laundry,but I have an audition tommorrow,and unless they're doing a remake of "The Evil Dead",I think I'd better get some sleep." 

"Are you sure you're okay?"Angel asked,as she retrieved her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk. 

"I'm better than I was. At least i didn't have two visions tonight.In that respect,I'm great." 

"I'll drive you home,"Gunn offered,holding the door open for her. 

"You don't have to,I'm a big girl." 

"I'm goin' that way anyways,"he claimed nonchalantly,but she had a feeling there was some ulterior motive at work,even if it was just getting away from laundry talk. 

She relented,and once outside,the cool night air didn't revitalize her like she had hoped,but just made her feel more tired.It had been a long couple of days. 

Cordelia climbed in Gunn's beaten up truck with typical reluctance-there was a time in her life when she'd never be seen in a vehicle this sad-and he was silent until they were on the road.Then he finally asked,"What do you think happened between Angel and that guy?" 

It took her a moment to figure out what he meant."You mean Logan?I don't know.Why?Do you think something happened?Beyond what Angel told us,that is." 

Gunn shrugged,his hands tight on the steering wheel,his deep brown eyes focused resolutely on the road ahead."I don't know...I just know there's something missing in Angel's story.He was drugged for the pit thing,right?But then he snapped out of it;supposedly the drugs wore off.The more I think about it,I wonder how Flemming could be stupid enough to not give him a big enough dose.And then there's the fact that he admitted Logan belted him a few times,but how come there was barely a scratch on him?When Sideburns elbowed Angel in the face,it left a bruise,and I'm pretty sure he pulled his elbow a bit.If he hit Angel at full force he should still be recovering.What gives?What did Logan tell you about it?" 

Gunn had several good points,all of which had bothered her earlier,but she had no good answers."Well,Angel's a vampire.He heals fast." 

"Not that fast." 

"Well,no,not when compared to Logan - "It was then that it suddenly occured to her Angel had possibly healed as fast as Logan.But how?It wasn't like Logan could share his ability,or Angel could take it... 

"Oh my god,"she gasped aloud,eyes widening in horror.Had Angel fed off Logan?That would explain everything,including the guilty look in Angel's eyes. 

"What?"Gunn exclaimed,glancing around for any visible enemies."What is it,Cordelia?" 

She pointed at the dashboard clock."Is it that late?My watch must be broken." 

He spared her a glance,giving her a dour frown."That isn't what you meant." 

"Yes it is-do you know how much sleep I need?I'll be lucky to get a beauty nap at this rate.Shit,what am I going to do?I'll look like death warmed over tommorrow."She took a mirrored compact out of her purse and pretended to examine her face for black circles and puffiness until Gunn shook his head and resume staring at the road.She didn't want to tell him-or anyone-anything until she could talk to Angel about it.Or better yet Logan,but he was gone.And now she really doubted they'd ever see him again. 

Gunn pulled the battered old truck up to the curb beside her building,and when he put it in park,he turned to give her a skeptical look."I know you're not telling me something." 

She scoffed,slinging her purse over her shoulder and finally getting the passenger side door open (she'd have thought he'd have fixed the sticky door by now)."Just because I have the vision thing doesn't mean I know everything."She stepped out onto the sidewalk and looked at him,barely noticing the dark blur out of the corner of her eye until it tackled her,throwing her down onto the  
pavement. 

"Cordy!"Gunn shouted,jumping out of the truck and grabbing her attacker,a black clad man who looked not unlike the commandos she had seen in previous visions.As Gunn threw him back and punched a second one who attempted to hit him,Cordelia scrambled to her feet and grabbed her mace from her purse,ignoring the new ache in the back of her head from where it bounced off the sidewalk.God damn it,it was always something. 

She heard someone run up behind her and spun quickly,blasting him in the eyes with the mace,and the commando fell back shreiking,grabbing his eyes. 

But that's when she heard a sharp electric snap behind her,and pivoted to see Gunn fall to all fours on the sidewalk after being hit with something that looked like a taser.Before she could help she was grabbed from behind,a big bear of a commando pinning her arms to her sides,and she tried to squirm out of his grasp but she couldn't do it:he had a grip like a vise. 

"Gunn!"She shouted,as the taser commando kicked him so hard in the face she thought she heard the cracking of bone,and he collapsed onto his back on the sidewalk,bloodied and unconscious. 

A black van suddenly pulled up,the doors sliding open as the commando dragged her towards it,wrapping an arm around her mouth so she couldn't scream as he picked her up and quite literally handed her to the commandos waiting inside. 

"You are so in trouble for this,"she spat,trying pointlessly to fight (and not show her fear) as one of them pinned her arms behind her back and slapped handcuffs on her wrists."Angel is going to kill you." 

"Who?" One of the commandos said,as he jabbed a needle in her arm,and the world fell away into a grey and glassy haze before she could even think about what he had just said. 

    Logan sat at a table in the back with the three mutants,and listened warily to their story,wondering if he should believe them or not. 

"You think we're scamming you,don't you?"The woman said.She was a tall brunette with clear blue eyes and a handsome face that looked closer to twenty than thirty,her creamy skin almost unbelievably flawless.Her dogtags said Electra,but her name was Naomi-or so she said. 

"Why would you come to Los Angeles looking for me?"He countered,searching their faces for the slightest hint of disingenuousness from any of them.They smelled pretty on the level,but it was hard to tell in this noisome bar. 

"Actually,we didn't come looking for you,"their unofficial leader,Shrike,admitted."We came here looking for Wraith." 

Logan felt his stomach twist at the name,but didn't let it show on his face."So did I.He's dead." 

Electra flinched visibly,gazing down at the cigarette burned table,while the other man at the table,Scorpion (nee Marcus),frowned and stared down into his untouched beer.Shrike (nee David) didn't seem all that surprised;he simply nodded."I feared as much,once we saw the ruin of his shop.We were about to leave,but then I realized you were here." 

"And how did you 'realize' that?" 

"Shrike has some psychic abilities,"Scorpion said.He was a man of average height with impressive musculature,his skin so brown it was almost true black,and large,dark eyes that seemed to be mostly pupil."That's how we knew where to look for Wraith in the first place." 

"What did you want with him?"Logan asked,curious what he'd get from them. 

"His help."Shrike said simply."But now that he can't,perhaps you can." 

"You keep going on about this help-what the hell do you want from me?Just spill it.I don't have all night."He snapped,suddenly wanting to be anywhere but here.Couldn't they give him a break?He'd been drained by a vampire and electrocuted today;you'd think he'd get a break after that. 

Shrike leaned forward conspiratorily,almost knocking over his beer,and said,in a whisper,"The bastards that experimented on us are back in business,Logan.We want to shut them down once and for all." 

    2 

    Logan's mind coldly processed that information while his emotions went into a strange free fall he could feel in the pit of his stomach.There was disbelief,of course;shock;the frigid confirming of his worst fear;and then the rage,instantaneous and molten,as bitter and acidic as the taste of bile in his mouth.If they had wanted to press his buttons,they had succeeded in hitting the biggest one. 

"Where?"He asked.For the moment,it was the only word he could spit out. 

"Over the border of California,in a desert just outside of Dry Lake,Nevada,"Shrike said,sitting back,but still keeping his voice low."It's an old army proving grounds...supposedly.But for an abandoned area,it is extremely busy." 

"And heavily guarded,"Scorpion added.When he grabbed his beer to have a drink,Logan noticed,for the first time,he was wearing black leather gloves. 

"If it's heavily guarded,how do we get in?" 

"I think all of us,working in tandem,could be far more than they bargained for,"Shrike said confidentally."Especially since we have the lay out of the place,and thanks to sattelite photos,an idea of the weaponry and opposition we'll face." 

"How'd you get the layout?"It almost struck him as too good to be true. 

Shrike smirked bitterly before admitting,"Let's just say the man didn't part with the blueprint willingly,but I got it anyways." 

Logan actually didn't care if he killed an entire armada for the information,as long as it was accurate."Are they experimenting on mutants now?" 

Electra nodded."We believe so,but we've been unable to get an exact number on how many mutants are being held captive.There could be as few as ten,or as many as fifty." 

"That's why we need to put a stop to them as soon as possible,"Scorpion added. 

"Who are they?" 

"As far as we can tell,they work for some secret U.S. military organization,or at least we think it's the U.S. alone,"Scorpion said,fidgeting slightly in his chair.He seemed anxious to get going and do something,anything,which Logan could completely empathize with."But there seem to be some international ties that aren't clear." 

"It could be part of some worldwide military network to use mutants as weapons,"Shrike elaborated with a shrug."We're not completely sure.But there's so many people in on this it's hard to believe it's been kept secret." 

"Well,it's not like anybody gives a fuck about mutants,"Logan opined bitterly,having a gulp of his beer in an attempt to wash a sudden bad taste out of his mouth.Sadly,the beer was weak and putrid,and didn't help much at all. 

"We do,"Electra pointed out,giving him a small,sad smile. 

This still seemed too good to be true.It was something he had always wanted,and it just fell into his lap.He knew in his gut he shouldn't trust it,but could he pass up this opportunity?"If I said no,what would you do?"He wondered,deciding the answer would make or break his decision. 

"It would be a pity,but we'd go on just the same,"Shrike responded easily. 

Scorpion nodded."We're just offering to let you in,nothing else." 

"But we'd be lying if we didn't admit we could use all the help we could get,"Electra said gently,almost touching his hand but instantly thinking better of it. 

Yes,they would be lying,and he didn't think they were now.Logan knew this might be a trap,that it might be the stupidest thing he had ever done-which was really saying something,in retrospect-but what did he have to lose at this rate? 

He glanced at the three mutants sitting around the table,and asked,"When do we leave?" 

    Angel had just shut off the lights of the Hyperion,having sent Wesley home to get some much deserved rest-they'd pulled too many late nights/days lately-and even Angel had to admit he was feeling it a bit too.It made him think the restorative power of Logan's blood had finally worn down,  
and he instantly winced at the spasm of guilt that brought on.He didn't blame him for leaving in a hurry considering what had happened,even though he had no clear memories of it.But maybe that was for the best.It was bad enough he knew he'd fed off another human being (again)-to have memories of it would have been too much to bear. 

He was headed for the stairs when the phone rang. 

He was going to let the machine get it,but decided that was selfish since he was standing right here,and reluctantly picked up the receiver on the third ring. 

"Angel Investigations,"he answered,remembering to do so at the last second. 

"Angel,they got Cordy,"Gunn gasped,his words sounding slurred."The goddamn commandos,I think.I tried to stop them-" 

"Wait,hold on,"he interjected impatiently."What do you mean they got her?Where are you?" 

"They kidnapped her,I think,I don't know why,"Gunn replied,sounding weary."I'm outside her place,at a pay phone.Shit,I think I have a concussion.I can barely stand up." 

"Sit down,"Angel advised,his mind racing.Why the hell would they take Cordy?To get back at him?He felt a cold rage building from the pit of his stomach,but right now he had to focus and help Gunn."I'll be right there." 

Even as he slammed down the receiver and raced out the door,he knew he should have called an ambulance,but he also knew Gunn would have objected to that.It was better he drag him to the hospital himself. 

Then he'd find Cordelia,and get rid of the commandos once and for all. 

    3 

    "So what are your abilities?"Logan asked,as they walked out into the parking lot,the cool night a welcome change from the thick,cloying air of the bar."I take it you know mine." 

Electra glanced at him sharply."You really don't remember us?" 

"No.Do you remember me?"He stopped walking,making them turn to face him."Do you remeber what happened to that place?" 

The three of them exchanged curious glances before Scorpion admitted,"None of us have coherent memories;we have fragments,shards that have no real context." 

"I remember you,"Electra said."And Shrike.But I don't think I was there very long,and I have no memories of the explosion.I just remember some hunters finding me in the snow." 

"I woke up in the snow too,"Scorpion said,a grim look on his face."The person closest to me was dead.I have no idea if they were doctor or mutant." 

"I woke covered in rubble,at the edge of the complex,"Shrike added. 

Logan mulled that over,sifting through the few memories he had,and finding a glaring discrepancy."You'd have been dead-the place was vaporized." 

Shrike nodded."It was,and I would have been dead,if i wasn't like you."At his surprised look,he added,"I heal rapidly as well,Logan,although perhaps not as fast as you.In fact,I was the prototype." 

"Prototype for what?" 

Shrike held his hand up,and a single,thick spike burst from between two knuckles in the center. But unlike when Logan did it,blood trickled from the base of the silver spike."For this.But because I didn't heal fast enough,they figured I would die if they did a whole body graft,so they stopped with my hands.And of course I have just the one claw.But that's often more than enough."He retracted the spike,but the gash in his skin remained for almost a minute,blood continuing to ooze from the wound before it slowed and stopped,the skin knitting itself together as if in slow motion. 

It was a shock to think there was someone like him,that he was not the first,and Logan wondered if it was an egotistical streak or pure disbelief that they'd want to do it to one person, nonetheless two. 

"My name is sort of a giveaway,"Electra said,filling the sudden,awkward silence."I control electricity with my mind and can physically channel it.I think my ability fascinated them." 

"In theory,I'm not very special as mutants go,"Scorpion said sheepishly."Mainly I see in infrared." 

"Seriously?"Logan hadn't thought that was possible for the human eye,but they were mutants,so why the surprise?"But what's with the gloves?" 

He glanced at his hands as if they'd suddenly become foreign to him."It was the experimentation they did on me.I have these artificial glands beneath my fingernails that excrete a neurotoxin I am apparently immune to.A brief touch can paralyze;a good grab can be lethal." 

"Whoa,"Logan murmured,very glad he wore gloves. 

"I almost feel sorry for the bastards,"Shrike commented,a sarcastic smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth."They made us to be human weapons,and now they're going to see how well they accomplished their task up close and personal." 

"I'll remember to shed tears for them,"Logan said,glancing around the parking lot.With Scorpion's ability to read heat signatures(and paralyze),Electra's ability to control electricity,and Shrike's psychic abilities,they should be all but invincible,a wonderful confluence of natural ability and the desire for vengeance,and that wasn't even counting his virtual indestructability. 

So why was Logan unable to shake the feeling that something was very wrong here? 

    Wesley managed to work his way to the hospital admittance desk bumping as few people as possible,but that seemed almost impossible in the barely controlled chaos of the hospital's emergency room.The fact that he was groggy from lack of sleep didn't help either.Luckily,this was Los Angeles,and no one noticed if you were polite or not;certainly no one expected it.Only he knew he was verging on rude wanker territory,but he wasn't about to admit it. 

"Um,pardon me,"he said to a receptionist,who had a phone receiver in one hand while she was typing on a computer with her other.He assumed she wasn't a nurse because he hadn't seen many nurses in blue paisley halter tops with purple streaks in their hair.But,again,this was Los Angeles... 

He had to repeat himself two more times,in a gradually louder voice,before she gave him a sullen glance,her purple painted lips curving down into a moue."Can I help you?"She said,in a tone of voice that clearly conveyed the sentiment "Screw you and the horse you came in on". 

Luckily,he had spent enough time around Sunnydale High to not take this knee jerk arrogant attitude personally."I'm looking for a Charles Gunn.He was admitted not too long ago,with a head injury,I believe." 

She wedged the receiver between her left shoulder and ear,and pouted at the computer screen as she typed."Charles Dunne?" 

"No,Gunn,G-u-n-n,"he replied,and her icy blue eyes gave him an abrasive look,like he was doing this just to annoy her.At this rate,he was sorely tempted to be really rude. 

"Wesley,"Angel called.He turned to see him cutting through the crowd,which seemed to part more naturally for the tall,imposing man(which was grossly unfair). 

Wesley glanced over his shoulder at the receptionist,and said,with a deeply insincere smile,"Never mind."If looks could kill,Angel would be scraping him off the wall,but he was heartened to know he'd made her life difficult,if only for a moment. 

He joined Angel over in a corner,as private a place as there was in this madhouse,and asked, "How's Gunn?" 

Angel frowned,concern evident in his dark hazel eyes."He has a concussion and a possible skull fracture.Yhey're keeping him overnight for observation."  
"Oh dear lord,"Wesley said,aware that it could have been much worse.And there were other problems beyond even this one."What was he able to tell you about what happened?" 

"Very little that could help,"Angel sighed,crossing his arms over his chest."As soon as Cordy got out of the truck she was jumped,and he attempted to intervene.He figures he took out three or four of them-and Cordy got one with her can of mace-before he was hit with a taser.They were dressed like the commandos,and he thinks there may have been as many as a dozen,but he's not sure.All he knows is he was kicked in the face and knocked out.When he came to,Cordy and the commandos were gone." 

Wesley rubbed his eyes,causing his glasses to fall to the bridge of his nose.He didn't even want to think what those mercenaries might want with Cordelia."Why would they take her?Unless..." 

Angel finished the thought for him."They want revenge for the death of their boss." 

Wesley felt numb to the pit of his stomach,suppressing the frigid shudder of fear that ran down his spine.If they wanted revenge,killing her was the first thing that came to mind...but if they had wanted to do that,they could have done it when Gunn was unconscious.What did they intend to do with her? 

Considering what they had done to Angel and Logan,he didn't want to know."Where would they take her?Flemming's digital broadcast center was burnt down." 

Angel nodded,scowling in thought."We need to find out if Flemming had a back up site,somewhere he might go if the warehouse was out of the question." 

The Englishman knew what was coming,and dreaded it-he'd rather be doing something,anything else-but they couldn't help Cordelia running blindly through the city."The internet." 

Angel nodded."We need to find out if Syon Corp has any other holdings.Call me if you find something." 

"Call you?"He repeated in disbelief,as Angel started walking away."Where are you going?" 

"I have some informants to shake down,a few heads to break,the usual,"he replied almost casually,but the tension was evident in his flat tone of voice,in the way his shoulders grew rigid  
beneath his long black trenchcoat.Wesley hoped he found something,and fast. He feared Cordelia didn't have a lot of time left. 

    4 

    Logan wished he wasn't surprised they were traveling in a trailer. 

Of course,he used to,so he couldn't complain,and it was bigger than his.But it still seemed decrepit and sad somehow. 

They were just using it to travel,there wasn't enough room for people to sleep in it,but at least the motorcycle fit inside it okay.Shrike was driving,for now,and Scorpion was up front in the passenger seat,leaving him to go over the rudimentary plan with Electra.She admitted she rarely sat up front,because she could sometimes accidentally interfere with the trailer's electrical  
wiring(a comforting thought). 

He couldn't get over how young she looked,and told her so."Do you have some regenerational abilities as well?"He wondered,as they sat across from each other on the floor of the trailer.He  
sat uncomfortably against the bike,while she sat only slightly less uncomfortably against the wall,her legs folded in a lotus position that he was sure would snap his leg like a twig,but she managed to seem all right with it.Maybe that was an ability she hadn't mentioned. 

She smiled faintly,brushing a loose strand of long brown hair out of her eyes."No.I have vague memories of running away from home when I was seventeen-neither my parents or I could handle me anymore-and I think I ended up at Alkali Lake somehow.Maybe I was kidnapped,I really don't remember.I just know I wasn't there long,maybe a couple of weeks,before the explosion." 

"You said you remembered me,"he pointed out,his mouth suddenly dry,his heart fluttering nervously in his chest.He was almost afraid of what she might tell him about himself,about the Logan...before. 

She clasped her hands together,and cast her gaze down at the thin layer of rust colored carpet between them and the metal floor of the trailer.Was she a bit nervous too?Yes,he could smell her anxiety,see it in the way her fingers clenched and unclenched in her hands."What I remember most is being afraid.They'd given me something that interfered with my powers,and they were dragging me...somewhere.I just knew they were going to do something awful to me,so I started struggling and screaming.Shrike showed up first:he demanded they let me go,but they told him to get back to his...I don't remember.I was pretty heavily drugged at the time,everything seemed like it was happening underwater.Then you showed up,asking what was going on...and then I'm not sure what happened.Next thing I know is I'm on the floor,and there's an siren going off,loud enough to hurt my ears,and you and Shrike are fighting a lot more...soldiers?I want to call them that...than I initially saw,and when I tried to get up to run away,I put my hand in something wet-blood.Then the hallway was crawling with soldiers,and they took the both of you down by shooting you with something.I started screaming again because I thought they'd killed you guys.They dragged me back to my cell,and it was maybe a few days later that I woke up in the snow..."She trailed off,but when she looked back up at him,there were unshed tears in her sapphire eyes."I never knew the names of either of you,not then,but you were my heroes.I don't know if you actually saved me-they may have experimented on me later,I don't remember-but at that time,all that mattered was you tried.It gave me a false sense of hope." 

"Not so false,as it turned out."Logan replied,trying not to show his own fear.Could that story be true?"Do you remember if Shrike and I were...oh god,this is a silly question...prisoners too,or were we working with the soldiers?" 

That question seemed to startle her,making her sit up rigidly straight as she blinked the tears from her eyes."You think you were working with the soldiers?" 


	2. Part 2

"No,I just...wondered."He rubbed his throbbing temples as doubts nagged at him,eating away his fragile peace of mind.Okay,not peace of mind,but sense of denial,perhaps.He knew he was altered against his will,given the adamantium skeleton in a surgery that was more akin to medieval torture,but...but what?Something lurked beneath the recesses of his mind,something dark and ugly that refused to surface.But he couldn't have worked for them voluntarily.Until he had hard proof,he wouldn't believe it,and even then he'd question it. 

Had he worked for the very people who flayed him alive? 

    When Angel entered the Hyperion,Wesley was hunched at the computer screen,looking as if he might fall through it any second."Find anything?"He asked hopefully,trying not to let any of his eagerness show.Sunrise was imminent,and all the informants he had shaken down had nothing for him about the Omegas. 

Wesley straightened up in his chair and rubbed the back of his neck."Well,Syon does have some property holdings in the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands,but they struck me more as tax dodges than alternate demon killing venues.But if they were ancillary bases of operation,I have a feeling Cordelia wouldn't want to be rescued." 

Angel attempted to smile at Wesley's stab at humor,but couldn't quite manage.The ex-Watcher frowned slightly,his blue eyes tired behind the lenses of his wire framed glasses."You had no luck either?"It was hardly a question,but Angel nodded just the same. 

"Some of them didn't even know who the Omegas were,so it was an extraordinary waste of time."He crossed his arms over his chest,making a physical effort not to fidget or start punching things in sheer frustration."I hate to say it,Wesley,but I'm at a loss.What do we do next?Their boss is dead,and the rest of the Omegas have gone to ground,taking most of the witnesses with them.We've exhausted every avenue we have." 

Wesley thought about it for a moment,then said,"No we haven't." 

"What's left?"Angel asked,confused,and then he realized what he had overlooked."Oh no." 

Wesley stood,shutting down the computer before grabbing his coat off the back of his chair."There is no choice.We have to find Cordelia." 

Angel nodded grimly,steeling himself for the trial to come.He would do whatever it took to save Cordelia. 

Even if that meant singing at Caritas. 

    5 

    When Cordelia came to,she felt like her mouth was full of wool,and her head full of molten lava. 

She had to sit up in stages so as not roil her angry head,but once she did,she realized she wouldn't have missed much if she remained laying down. 

She was on a utilitarian cot in a small,utilitarian room,no bigger than the living room of her apartment,the walls painted a supposedly soothing robin's egg blue,yet they still managed to disturb her on some level.Maybe it was the room's general prison cell ambiance:save for the cot,there was no other furnature in the room,and the far right corner had a toilet and a sink,a rice paper partition cordoning it off to give it a false sense of privacy.The rooms harsh florescent lighting was coming from panels imbedded in the ceiling,too high for her to reach even if she had wanted to,and the door set flush into the left side wall looked metal,despite the coating of blue paint. 

She noticed something jingled as she sat up,and she looked down to see a pair of dogtags hanging around her next from an ugly silver chain.They had a number on them,and a name:Cassandra. 

"Hello,"she said aloud,unable to shake the feeling that she was being monitored somehow."My name is Cordelia,not Cassandra.And eew,talk about a fashion faux pas."She took the dog tags off and tossed them across the room,a pointless act of defiance that didn't even make her feel better. 

She then sat back against the wall,wrapping her arms around herself,feeling suddenly very cold, and very alone. 

She had the sinking feeling she wasn't dealing with the commandos anymore. 

    Wesley helped himself to a drink or three as Angel mustered his courage and got on stage at the smokey,dimly lit Caritas,and proceeded to mercilessly butcher "I Put A Spell On You". "Oh,the humanity,"Wesley muttered to himself,downing another vodka and cranberry juice.He knew he was verging on getting drunk,and even if he didn't he'd still pay for it,but he didn't care.Listening to Angel sing completely sober was just something he couldn't bear. 

"Hey,Wes my man,"the Host said jovially,sitting beside him at the crowded bar."Where's the gorgeous Miss brown eyes herself?" 

He glanced at the red eyed Anagogic demon,only to find he had turned his attention back to Angel,who seemed to be visibly shrinking on stage-it was possible he was more mortified than the entire audience combined."Ooh,I shouldn't have asked that,"the Host commented,frowning in concern. 

"So you know why we're here."Wesley really wasn't surprised;it was the Host's talent,after all. 

The green scaled demon nodded,his frown growing into a scowl as the song oh so mercifully ended,and Angel quickly slinked off stage to meager,polite applause,joining them at the bar. 

"He knows,"Wesley told him,before Angel could say a word. 

The Host nodded,a sour look on his face."This is a bad business,cupcake." 

"We know,the Omegas,"Angel commented,leaning against the bar on the other side,so the two of them bracketed the Host. 

But to his surprise,the Host shook his head,putting his own drink down on the bar."No,my hunk of burning love,you're going down the wrong bunny trail.This is something bigger and uglier.They look like your Omegas,but they are larger than life and twice as mean." 

"Who are they?"Angel asked first,his wide brow furrowing in concern. 

The Host had to think about that for a minute,a muscle near his right horn twitching slightly beneath the skin."I don't know."he sighed,rubbing his eyes."I'm sensing a government connection, though,something large and unwieldy.And not in a good way." 

"Like the Initiative?"Wesley wondered,throwing a curious glance at Angel. 

The Host shook his head vehemently."That was Robin in training pants compared to this psychotic   
Batman.These people have been at their dirty business for a long time,and,unlike the Initiative, they've never been caught,and have been a roaring success." 

"How do we shut them down?"Angel wondered. 

"And what do they want with Cordelia?She's not a demon."Wesley added. 

"You can't shut them down,handsome;they're too big,even for you.And they don't traffick in demons,sugar-they do mutants."The Host answered,looking at them in turn. 

"Mutants?"Angel repeated in surprise,and Wesley shared the feeling."Cordelia's not a mutant,either." 

"You know that,dear heart,and I know that,but I don't think they do.Not yet,anyways."The Host picked up his drink and had a stiff gulp,seemingly gathering his courage. 

"What happens when they find out she's not a mutant?"Wesley wondered,his stomach clenching in dread. 

The sympathetic look in the Host's eyes was enough to make Wesley feel ill with fear for her. "They don't let people walk away.They didn't remain number one in the atrocity field by leaving tattlers behind to tell the tale." 

"Where are they?"Angel said,anger clear in his eyes and his voice."Where have they taken Cordelia?" 

"There's a complex in the Nevada desert.The name Dry Lake came to mind." 

Angel turned towards the exit,ready to leave,but the Host grabbed his arm to stop him."Look,Sir Vampalot,I know you want to rescue her,but these people are well organized and lethal.You alone wouldn't even put a crimp in the lunch schedule.You can't take them on." 

"We'll see about that,"Angel said,pulling his arm out of his grip and stalking towards the door. 

Wesley followed,and the Host said to him,"Good luck.I really hope you do pull a rabbit out of your collective hats and save her.I'd hate to lose my favorite customers." 

Wesley thought he heard a tacit 'but',and glanced at him over his shoulder.The Host raised his drink at him in a mock toast,and mustered up a sad smile."See you later.In this life or the next." 

Oh,now that was a confidence building thought.But Wesley knew he had a point. 

Maybe,if he were lucky,the next life would be even better. 

    6 

    The memories ebbed and swirled in his mind,running together like bleeding colors,and Logan heard voices distorted as if from a long way away,and muffled by half a ton of water. 

The blurs and flashes coaleced into what appeared to be a hallway,industrial steel and cream white,and shadows congealed into human forms,the broad back of Shrike nearest him as the farther shadows became two men in dark military fatigues,holding a girl by her arms.She was sagging between them,barely upright,her eyes glassy behind the veil of dark hair hanging in her face. 

"Back off,Shrike.Return to your unit."One of the soldiers commanded,sounding like he was a million miles away. 

"What are you going to do to her?"Shrike asked,as distant as the stars. 

"That's none of your concern.Move along,"the soldier demanded angrily,his voice as fragile as ice. 

"What's going on here?"Logan heard his own voice ask,as if from the next room.He was now next to Shrike,without any memory of having moved at all.Everything was still choppy,even though the scene had seemingly solidified into some semblance of reality.And he knew,even from this distance,that things had the potential to turn very ugly very fast. 

And the sleeping Logan knew things were about to become uglier than sin. 

"Leave or I call a code,"the second soldier threatened,as if that non sequitur should have struck the fear of god into them. 

"Let her go and we'll leave,"Shrike offered,attempting to sound reasonable even as his fists clenched at his side. 

"That ain't happening,"the first soldier said,and they began dragging the girl forward,even as she continued to struggle in vain.As they neared,the first soldier pulled the paralyzer from his belt with his free hand."Move aside at once!" 

When they didn't,the first soldier jabbed out with his paralyzer,but Shrike slapped it aside as the second soldier tried the same dumb ass move on Logan.Logan let his claws come out and slashed the paralyzer into a half a dozen pieces,sending the slightest electric shock through his system,and kicked the soldier straight in the midsection,sending him stumbling backwards. 

Someone must have called a code,as the alarm went off,the emergency lockdown siren screaming down the corridor like an enraged banshee,and the first soldier let the girl go.She crumbled to the floor as the soldier snap kicked Shrike in the face,clipping him right under the chin and making him stagger back. 

Logan retracted his claws and reached for the girl,intending to drag her away before the fight really got bad,but the second soldier had recovered and dove for him. 

And in that nanosecond,Logan realized he hated every single one of these fuckheads,these stupid normals who had made his life a pointless series of sheer misery,and he held out his left hand,unleashing his claws,and let the soldier impale himself on them,his claws slicing right through his chest and throat like cardboard. 

The soldier made a few choking nosies,blood gushing from his mouth as well as his wounds.When Logan retracted his claws,the soldier collapsed face first to the floor,already dead in spite of the growing pool of blood that slowly surrounded him. 

"What the hell did you do that for,Wolverine?"Shrike exclaimed,throwing the first soldier face first into the wall,knocking him cold."Do you know what's going to happen to us now?!" 

"Like I give a fuck,"he snarled,and started towards the girl,who was now looking up towards him,her hand in the growing puddle of the soldier's blood.She seemed shell shocked and pale,and for a split second he thought he saw fear in her eyes.Fear of him? 

Suddenly the shadows of a dozen soldiers surrounded them,and as he turned,claws unsheathed, he heard a small explosive concussion,and felt a bullet punch through his left knee,dropping him to the floor.A second blast and a third followed,one dropping Shrike on the floor beside him,while the other hit him in the chest as he tried to stand on his one good leg. 

As his consciousness faded away,he heard the girl scream. 

Logan awoke,eyes shooting open instantly,and as he watched slivers of sunlight crawl across the textured ceiling of his cheap motel room,he wondered if had been a memory or a nightmare or some combination thereof. 

Had he murdered someone in cold blood?Could he murder someone in cold blood? 

He sat up,the airplane engine rattle and thrum of the cheap air conditioner a welcome distraction from his thoughts as he kicked the covers aside and sat on the edge of the bed,resting his elbows on his knees and dropping his head in his hands.This only reinforced his opinion he should never sleep,ever,for the benefit of his sanity and all those around him. 

Yes,he had killed-in fact,he'd killed a lot.But he didn't lose sleep over any of that,as it had always been self defense.They either meant to kill him or someone else or both.It was,in his mind at least,justified. 

But he didn't have to kill that soldier.He was a bastard,working for the monsters who mutilated and imprisoned mutants,but he could have knocked him straight into next year rather than kill him.He was incapable of hurting him or even Electra then without his paralyzer.Why would he just kill him? 

Admittedly,he hated most people,but normals and mutants alike.He had no special hatred for 'normals' in particular(well,for some-but that held for certain mutants as well).Would he do that? 

He shivered,as his bare legs were now in the path of the decrepit a.c.'s anemic breeze.He'd had no change of clothes,so when he realized even he needed sleep as much as he didn't want it,he stripped down to his boxers,although the sheets were so rough he regretted it. 

In all honesty,he regretted sleeping at all.He tried to convince them they should plow straight on,but Shrike pointed out they needed rest,as he and the others had been up for over eighteen hours,and they all needed to be fresh if they were going to hit the base.On those grounds,he couldn't help but agree.But he knew,even before now,that he never should have. 

He decided to have a shower,hoping it would fully wake him up and put yet another memory he didn't want aside,but it didn't work.The memory continued to disturb him on several levels.Could he-the 'old' Logan-have been a cold blooded murderer? 

Part of him wanted to deny it,but he was self-aware enough to know there was a killer in him;a part of him so dark and cold even he hesitated to examine it head on.Yes,he had considered unleashing his claws and killing people for reasons that could only be classified as annoyances at best,but he had never done it:he knew his darkness,but he had never acted on it.At least,not to his knowledge. 

No-he refused to believe it.Maybe Shrike remembered what happened;Electra was too pumped full of chemicals to remember everything correctly. 

But what was his excuse? 

He heard a knocking noise,and assumed the old air conditioner had finally given up the ghost,but as he left the bathroom towel drying his hair,he realized someone was actually knocking on his door. 

"Logan,are you awake?"Electra's voice called through the door,barely audible over the a.c.'s continuous death rattle. 

"Yeah,just a sec,"he said,throwing the towel on his messy bed and hastily pulling on his jeans.As soon as he zipped up,he opened the door,squinting at the harsh Nevada sunlight,and instantly started sweating due to the thick wave of heat that greeted him with the sluggish breeze.It had to be at least ninety already,and judging from the position of the sun,it wasn't even noon yet. 

"Are we leaving?"He asked her,leaving her at the door as he retrieved his shirt from the floor. 

"No,I just couldn't sleep,and since you hadn't wanted to,I was hoping you might be up too."She said,coming in and closing the door behind her,banishing the sun's blinding glare and the waves of merciless heat.As soon as his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light,he turned towards her,curious at her anxious tone.Electra was leaning back against the door,wringing her hands nervously. 

"What's wrong?"He asked,quickly pulling on his shirt. 

She shook her head,scowling down at the threadbare steel gray carpet."I have this weird feeling something's wrong,but I can't put my finger on what." 

"I know what you mean,"he commisserated,donning his jacket,even though he knew he'd quickly shed it in the heat.He had few possessions,but he wanted to keep the meager ones he had. 

She glanced up at him sharply,as if he had said something important."You feel it too?" 

He had to think about that for a moment-she was dead serious,not just nervous about the raid."I...I don't know.I think my memory's even more fucked up than I though.Or I am,or both.I'm not sure." 

It was her turn to look concerned as she moved towards him."What do you mean?Is something wrong,Logan?" 

He didn't know if he should mention it at all,nonetheless how to say it,but he blurted it out regardless."When Shrike and I saved you,did I kill a soldier?" 

She studied his face curiously,a thin worry line appearing between her delicate brows."I-I don't remember.Did you remember?Do you think you did?" 

"I'm not really sure.I don't know." 

"I know you don't like to sleep.Is that why?You remember?" 

He rubbed his hot,dry eyes,and wished he'd never brought it up."Sometimes...look,forget it,okay?"He started to turn away,but she grabbed his hand,and he felt a brief static electric shock. 

"Ouch!Hey,watch it!"he snapped,yanking his hand away. 

"I'm sorry.I'm nervous,and this dry heat is doing me no good at all,"she admitted,and then reached up and touched his cheek.He shied away,but there was no shock this time. 

"What are you doing?"He asked,pulling her arm gently but firmly away. 

She smiled faintly,clearly amused."I remember you clean shaven." 

"You're kidding." 

She laughed,and he got the impression she was joking-or at least he hoped she was(for some reason,he couldn't imagine himself without his facial hair-he bet he would look like a dork)-and chuckled himself.After all the shit that had been hitting the fan lately,it felt good.He couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed. 

She then shocked him-in every sense but physical-by hugging him fiercely."What do you think you're doing?"He asked,wondering if he should shove her away or simply peel her arms off of him. 

"Thank you,Logan,"she whispered into his chest."I know I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you and Shrike.And whatever you did,you did for me.Thank you." 

"No,I didn't,"he protested,angry with her gratitude and himself and just the whole goddamned world.But he had to admit,it felt distractingly good to feel a soft,firm female body pressed against his...oh,he was not thinking this.He had some scores to settle with some military butchers cowering out in the desert. 

But he gave her a slightly reluctant hug in return,ending with a friendly if awkward pat on the back.But then she whispered in his ear,"I don't know who to trust,Logan,except you.Something tells me I can trust you." 

He looked down at her,startled."Shrike?Scorpion?If you think they're lying,why-" 

She kissed him,stopping him in mid-question,and he felt a tiny shiver of electricity run down his adamantium skeleton:it was not unpleasant.In fact,the soft feel of her lips against his wasn't unpleasant either;it struck him suddenly,and with great ferocity,how deeply lonely he was,and how he probably had been all his life.He kissed her in return,wrapping his arms around her tightly, feeling the electricity tingle across his skin,raising the hair on his arms beneath his sleeves. 

It was then that the window exploded inward with wall shattering force,throwing them both violently to the floor,as the first of the commandos charged in through the shattered window frame. 

The commando withdrew his paralyzer from his belt and started towards them,but Electra held up her hand,and the paralyzer suddenly discharged backwards,sending tendrils of electric blue energy writhing up his arm.He froze in his tracks,eyes growing as wide as silver dollars as he shook from the shock before falling to the carpet,as stiff and insensate as a statue. But friends of his came in,three commandos piling in through the new hole in the wall,and Logan rolled to his feet,unleashing his claws as he lashed out at the first one,shattering his paralyzer before kicking him straight back into his buddy,and it was a small domino effect as several of the commandos fell into each other,tumbling to the ground like toy soldiers. 

But others were uneffected,and as several charged him,he saw what looked like an electrical discharge,a thin filiment of blue lightning,and several other soldiers went down as the scent of ozone seemed to fill the suddenly hot and dry air.Shit,she really could throw electricity. 

Suddenly soldiers near the back started falling,some thrown physically aside,and Shrike and Scorpion appeared in the crowd of black uniforms,thinning the herd down to the quick. 

"How the hell did they find us?"Logan snapped,knocking the last commando unconscious with a backhanded fist to the face. 

Shrike shook his head,frowning in concern."They may have followed us from California.But I could have sworn we weren'tfollowed." 

"Who cares?"Scorpion interjected impatiently,pulling his gloves back on."We need to be gone before the reinforcements arrive." 

Shrike nodded."Agreed.Let's go." 

No one argued-no one wanted to stay-so they carefully picked their way through the unconscious and paralyzed bodies to the trailer,Scorpion donning some type of dark welding goggles to shield his eyes from the harsh light of day.Shrike got in the front seat,but this time Logan got in the passenger side,riding shotgun,so Scorpion had to ride in the back with Electra.He wasn't sure what had happened-or almost happened-back in the hotel with her,but it was vaguely unsettling. Where had that flood of feelings suddenly come from?Being horny he could accept-but lonely? What was that about?Lonliness was his usual state,but he preferred it to the alternative. 

As soon as Shrike got the trailer on the road,he took one hand off the steering wheel to run a hand nervously through his hair,and said,"Maybe we should call this thing off." 

"What?"Scorpion exclaimed from the back,nearly shouting."After all our planning and waiting?" 

"They probably know we're coming,"Shrike argued. 

"And what difference does that make?"Logan countered."They know we survived and eluded them:they've probably anticipated this attack from day one.If you want to chicken out,fine,but don't use that lame ass excuse." 

Shrike shot him an angry sidelong glance,scowling at the sunbaked ribbon of road that seemed to lead directly into a lifeless horizon far from the (so called) civilized world."Fine.We do this thing. But don't you ever imply I'm a goddamn coward,Wolverine.I'm fucking sorry I can't share your death wish." 

"And what the fuck does that mean?"He growled,the urge to lash out and punch him almost overwhelming.Why the sudden antipathy towards Shrike?Was there something about their shared past he didn't consciously realize (yet)? 

"Guys,knock it off,"Electra interjected firmly."Save it for the encampment." 

Logan decided to try and do just that. 

    7 

    Cordelia hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep until the scraping clank of the door unlocking made her jolt awake. 

She sat up,wiping a bit of sleep drool from the corner of her mouth,just as a man in a grey-green jumpsuit came in.He tried on a bland,supposedly harmless smile,pretending there wasn't armed guards in the hallway and some weird,boxy black device on his belt that looked even more menacing than the taser thing they'd used on Gunn. 

"Who the fuck are you,and why did you kidnap me?"She demanded angrily,not daring to get up from her cot.Not yet,anyways."Where the hell am I?" 

The man was tall and lean,with a strangely patrician face that seemed out of place with his military like outfit and rigid posture,although his slicked back salt and pepper hair was probably anachronistic for any era.She judged he was in his forties,but if he was a demon,he could be four thousand years old for all she could tell. 

"I am Bertram,and I will be your handler,at least for the preliminaries,"he said,his voice used car salesman smooth as his colorless eyes seemed to inspect her for any signs of dents or scratches."I'm sorry about what occured,but I assure you,if you cooperate with us,not only will you not be harmed,but it will aid you immeasurably." 

"What the hell are you talking about?Handler?Touch me and you'll pull back a bloody stump,"she spat,trying to pretend she hadn't grossed herself out by saying that.But it sounded so tough! 

His thin lips curved up in what could have been a smile,or perhaps his lunchtime tuna salad coming back on him."We don't harm people here,Cassandra.Not unless they make us." 

"My name is Cordelia,not Cassandra,you moron!You've mistaken me for someone else!Let me out of here and I'll be on my way,and we'll forget this ever happened,okay?" 

His smile became even more smug,if that was possible."We know your name.For purposes of record keeping your code name is Cassandra,and that is how you will be known here." 

She scoffed at him,crossing her arms over her chest."I don't think so." 

His smug smile became razor blade sharp,his eyes as cold as ice."Think what you want, Cassandra.But I suggest cooperation,or things could get unpleasant for you very fast." 

She wanted to say something to wipe that leering smirk off his smug face,but she couldn't think of anything:she was genuinely scared,and he was dead serious. 

And she'd be dead too,if she didn't think of some way out of this. 

    They hadn't been kidding when they said it was in the middle of nowhere-it was,in fact,nowhere.It could have been the end of the world for all Logan could see. 

From horizon to horizon the ground was an ocean of golden sand,with a few brave,scraggly tumbleweeds and stunted cacti struggling through the baked earth wherever they could find the slightest bit of purchase,and there wasn't much of that. 

They decided to wait until nightfall,to use the cover of darkness as part of the plan,so they had ended up hanging out in a small waystation of nowhere before moving on towards Dry Lake.While most of them just stayed with the vehicle,they all had to admit this was the most depressing goddamn place they had ever seen.Desolate hardly even covered it;this entire are seemed bereft and sad,openly hostile to life in any form. 

A perfect setting,in other words.If armageddon was to come,at least it would feel at home here. 

By the time the sky had darkened to midnight blue,the bright crescent of the moon hanging low and preceeding the stars,they ditched the truck about a half mile from the base and walked in on foot,as they were still counting on the element of surprise to help them. 

The outer perimeter defenses - mainly fences topped with razor wire,big important looking signs,and some hidden,sophisticated electronics that Electra easily shorted out and otherwise screwed with - were puny, so the electric eyes saw nothing of them. 

Logan wasn't sure what he was expecting-maybe something out of a World War Two movie,a prison camp with guard towers and attack dogs,armed soldiers making patrols on foot like clockwork in front of dingy,sagging barracks-but there was nothing but anti-personnel traps and alarms on their way towards the large,golden beige painted building (desert camoflague?).It not only resembled an army base,but maybe a converted airplane hangar.It was so unbelievably still and quiet in the hot desert air,the ground still radiating heat like a smoldering ember,rendering the occasionally cool night breezes a moot afterthought,that it felt eerie,like they were trespassing on hallowed ground. 

Logan stopped where he was,and Shrike almost walked past him before he stopped and turned to look back at him.Scorpion and Electra were sharing lead point:Electra because of her ability to fuck with the sensors,and Scorpion because he was their literal eyes in the dark,having doffed his protective goggles to use his infrared vision to guide them safely through the almost literal mindfield.Finally, they paused and looked back at the both of them."What is it,Logan?"Electra asked,whispering so quietly she could barely be heard. 

It suddenly struck him that she and Scorpion used each other's real names,but Shrike did not-force of habit?He didn't know what that meant,or if it was important,so he set it aside."This feels like a trap." 

"It does,"Shrike agreed. 

Scorpion searched the grounds carefully,and reported,"I'm not seeing anyone.Even if they were hiding,I'd see their body heat being reflected." 

"That's just it.They're waiting for us inside,"he said,breathing deep of the night air.He smelled nothing,just heat and dust,the tumbleweeds and the scent of machine oil,but no people-mutants or otherwise. 

It had to be a trap.He could feel it in his bones. 

"We weren't expecting this to be a cakewalk,"Scorpion pointed out testily."But together there's nothing they can do to beat us." 

"Are you sure about that?They made us,after all.They have to be ready for us."Logan countered, continuing to sniff the air.Nothing on top of nothing;that wasn't right at all. 

"Who's being a coward now?"Scorpion shot back,and even in the dark Logan knew he was glaring at him. 

"There's a generator feeding power to the base;it's underground,I can feel it."Electra said softly."I can blow it.It'll leave them in the dark and with no defenses but hand to hand.We should be able to take them then,shouldn't we?" 

"They'll definitely know we're coming then,"Shrike said,shifting nervously. 

"They already do.Does it matter?"Logan pointed out,glaring right back at Scorpion for the sheer hell of it.No wonder Electra didn't trust them;there was something wrong here,he was more sure of that now than ever. 

"I'm doing it,"she said,then crouched down,sinking her hands into the warm,hard packed golden sand.Her hair seemed to move in some hidden breeze,the static electricity she was generating almost palpable in the air like ozone during a storm,and Logan thought he felt a rumble beneath his boots as the entire complex suddenly went dark,as if darkness had physically fallen on the complex like a haphazardly discarded shroud. 

Now he heard shouts ringing out from the mutant prison camp,guards barking orders,and Scorpion charged towards the base,shedding his gloves on the way,as Shrike sighed,and said, "Show time."He ran off after him,and Logan paused,looking at Electra,who was still crouched on the ground,but now she seemed to be leaning her weight on her hands,as if she was about to fall on her face."Are you all right?"He asked,and reached to help her up,but the sudden sensation of electricity crackling around her like an unseen aura made him stop and withdraw his hand.He'd get fried if he touched her now. 


	3. Part 3

She nodded,her dark cascading down and hiding her face."I just taxed myself a bit;I'll be okay in a minute.Go on,Logan,I'll be fine.They'll need your help." 

"What about you?" 

"The first soldier to touch me gets burned to a crisp." 

He had no trouble believing that.Reluctantly he turned away,and started towards the base,his claws springing out from his knuckles as he did so. 

This still wasn't right,but he was damned if he was going to let any of these bastards escape. 

    8 

    They had just reached a broadly fenced compound,with various warning signs posted every twenty feet,stating it was government property;that it was contaminated with radioactive waste;trespassing was a felony;and trespassers would be shot.Angel thought it was a case of protesting too much,or signing too much.It was obvious they had something to hide,and he doubted it could be experimental aircraft. 

Wesley glanced up at a section on the ten foot high chainlink fence,topped with a thick tangle or razor wire,and frowned,the moonlight reflecting off his glasses."Did you bring your grappling hook?" 

"We don't need it,"Angel said,walking around to an area he'd seen as a shadow,a hole that formed into an honestly empty space in his vampiric night vision.Someone had cut an entire segment out of the fence-not slashed the fence,but taken out an entire six foot by six foot square; the removed section of chain link laid on the desert floor like a chainmail carpet,whole and intact. 

Wesley came around and looked at it,honestly surprised."Who did this?"He asked,examining the severed chain link."This was cut remarkably clean.Whoever they were,they didn't use wire cutters." 

There was a scent in the relatively still night air,familiar...and soon as Angel placed it,it explained everything."Logan's here." 

Wesley glanced at him in surprise."What?Are you sure?" 

Angel nodded,concentrating on the smallest noises carried by the empty desert,which seemed to have remarkable accoustics;it was only a matter of counting the number of footsteps crunching on sand."Yes.About two hundred yards ahead of us,with...three others.They smell human too." 

"That explains the fence,"Wesley said,squinting off into the darkness as if trying to see them.But even Wesley knew what a pointless endeavor that was,and quickly gave up."But why is he here?Do you think he heard about Cordelia?" 

Angel shook his head."I don't know.Why wouldn't he tell us if he did?Frankly,I don't care why he's here;he'll help us get Cordy out."It was then Angel felt a thrum beneath his feet,like a tidal wave of electricity far below them,and the faint lights of the base on the near horizon died a violent death,leaving the cold,bright moon as the only source of light. 

"Something's happening,"Wesley said,sounding tense. 

From the faint sound of angry voices,Angel knew the power had been cut,and the soldiers assumed they were under attack.He knew they were probably right. 

Angel turned and grabbed Wesley's arm,pulling him back towards the car."What are you doing?" 

"We're driving in.There's no surprise to be had now,and we may need to make a really quick getaway." 

Wesley must have agreed,because he didn't protest any further. 

    Cordelia was considering her options for escape-which boiled down,realistically,to none and none-as smarmy Bertram led her down a long,windowless corridor full of metal doors placed about ten feet apart,making her wonder how many mutants they had here.Heavily armed soldier boy was following so close behind her she would swear she could feel him breathing down her neck.His face could have been made of stone it was so expressionless,and he wouldn't even look her in the eye,as if she was poison or something. 

So this is what it felt like to be a condemned prisoner.She really could have done without that knowledge. 

They had come to a bend in the corridor when the hallway-no,the entire building-was plunged into darkness,and Cordy knew if she was ever going to escape,it was now.She ran past soldier boy,hoping she tripped him,but barely got ten feet down the hall before a loud gunshot rang out,and she heard/felt the whistle of a bullet passing by not five feet from her head.She froze,hands raised in the air in spite of the darkness,her heart beating so fast she was afraid she might pass out.The fucking bastard could have killed her-and did he care?No,probably not. 

Dim emergency lights flicked on at about ankle height,as a seperate series of dim spots came on just above them,and smug weasel Bertram came to her and grabbed her arm."Now now,my  
dear,where do you think you're going?" 

"Away from you,"she snarled,yanking her arm back.That just made Bertram chuckle (god,how she wanted to knee him in the groin) as another soldier boy came jogging down the opposite end of the hall. 

"I see he brought Electra in,"Betram said to the whey faced soldier as he joined them. 

He gave Bertram a crisp salute,and said,"Sir yes sir.He also brought in,according to our scans,Wolverine." 

"What?"She asked,wondering if she heard that right.Could there be another Wolverine?No,she didn't think the world could stand two of them. 

They ignored her,and Betram seemed pleased with the information."The prodigal son returns?And so soon?Excellent.Are the solar batteries charged?" 

The soldier nodded."Ready to engage at your order,sir.But our front line is falling faster than we anticipated,and Lieutenant Cross wants to throw it now." 

"He is so going to kick your ass,"she said,smiling in triumph.Maybe Angel caught him before he got out of town and asked him to help,but honestly it didn't matter.She was getting out of Motel Hell. 

But they continued to ignore her as if she was nothing more than a fly on the wall,even though she was technically standing between them."No,wait for my order.I want them in the complex - C  
Team knows where to lead them.But tell Cross the plan has now changed:I need both Electra and Wolverine immobilized on sight,or this will blow up in our faces.All of our faces." 

It was the way Bertram said it,and the way he emphasized 'all' in the last sentence that made her susupicious and nervous.Did he mean a literal explosion?Oh shit,was he one of those losers who,if he couldn't win,destroyed the whole game board? 

The soldier threw another crisp salute and jogged off the way he came,and Bertram grabbed her arm and swung her around,dragging her the opposite way."Let's get you somewhere safe, sweetheart.Things are going to get very ugly." 

"Oh,they'll get ugly all right,"she agreed through clenched teeth,making him look at her sharply.Did he think it was a premonition on her part?Fine,he could think that,because it was as good as one. 

She was going to enjoy watching Logan kick his scrawny little ass to hell and back.Maybe,if she was lucky,she could help. 

    9 

    Logan knew Electra had joined them when he saw a bright blue flash in his peripheral vision. 

One of the soldiers was thrown back violenty,slamming back first into his buddy,who had just taken aim with his rifle.He heard him fire a shot,but where it went was anyone's guess.Probably into his friend. 

The entrance before the complex was littered with fallen soldiers,most unconscious,but some had their eyes wide open in fear as they tried fruitlessly to move,to get up and grab their rifles - victims of Scorpion's paralyzing touch. 

Logan casually punched the last standing soldier in the unit,sending him crashing to the tarmac with blood gushing from his shattered nose,and turned towards Electra when he heard a strange growling noise-faint and growing louder. 

He looked back towards the desert and saw a big black car barreling towards them,its headlights off and its street tread tires throwing up huge plumes of sand in its wake. 

"What the fuck is this?"Scorpion snarled,coming up beside him. 

The car stopped suddenly,sliding about three feet forward in the sand before coming to rest.  
It was only when the driver's door opened that Logan recognized the car.With its top up,it looked different. 

Scorpion took a threatening step forward,but Logan grabbed his arm,and said,"Cool your jets,he's on our side." 

"You know him?"He asked suspiciously. 

"Sadly,"Logan admitted,as Angel walked right towards him,Wesley scrambling out of the passenger side door and quickly following after. 

"What are you doing here?"Angel and Logan asked each other in unison.They both stared at each other,and Logan pointed at him."You first.This ain't exactly L.A." 

"These bastards kidnapped Cordelia.Isn't that why you're here?"The tall,broad shouldered vampire-still wearing his hopelessly attention getting long black trench coat(in the  
Nevada desert?Oh no,he didn't stand out...)-said,gesturing at the complex behind them. 

"What?They took Cordy?"He exclaimed in disbelief,but he knew simply from the anger in his eyes he wasn't lying. 

"They think she's a mutant,"Wesley said,joining them,adjusting his glasses. 

"Who the hell are they talking about?"Scorpion asked. 

Logan turned back towards the complex,angrier than ever,and he didn't think that was possible."A friend.Come on,Angel,you're with me." 

If they had hurt her in any way at all,Logan knew their experimenting on mutants days were over.Because he was going to kill each and every goddamned one of them. 

They had tried to shield the complex doors,which were pretty thick adamantium,but Electra blew them off their hinges,hitting a few soldiers who were laying in ambush for them.They were on them so fast they didn't have time to do much more than become punching bags,although one managed to lift his rifle and take aim at Logan.But Angel jumped him as he fired,decking him with a single backhanded fist to the face,and as another tried to converge on Angel,Wesley pulled out one of the tasers the Omegas had loved to use and fried him,leaving soldier boy twitching and insensate on the floor. 

Angel came back to the group,grimacing as he dug his fingers into his chest and pulled out the bullet he had taken,tossing it aside."Where would they keep the prisoners?" 

"That's your mutation?"Scorpion asked,impressed."You're impervious to bullets?Shit,I wish I had that one." 

Angel didn't answer,and Logan was glad.He wouldn't know how to begin explaining the vampire crap."I think they'd be in the center of the complex,"he said,then suddenly wondered how he knew.Had he remembered? 

Even in the darkness,the shape of the place had a sickening familiarity to Logan;a shadow of a nightmare,the architecture of fear.If he didn't know this place specifically,he knew something like it,and it made him feel cold with anger and remembered terror.He didn't want to be here; everything in him screamed for him to run,to give up now and get away while that was still an option,but Cordy was in here somewhere.He wasn't leaving without her,or any other mutant undergoing what he had gone through. 

Angel had simply nodded and turned away-if he had smelled his fear he didn't comment on it-and as he led the way down the entrance corridor,Scorpion said,"Hey,I should lead-I can see in the dark." 

"So can I,"Angel answered matter of factly."And they don't have what it takes to kill me." 

Although the others couldn't know how true that was,they let him go ahead,and Shrike leaned down and scooped up one of the fallen soldiers rifles as he followed,checking the clip for ammo.  
Logan smashed every security sensor and emergency door they passed,just for the sheer hell of it.He hoped it would make him feel better,but it didn't really.Smashing heads was probably the only remedy. 

Angel encountered gunfire ahead,but not for long,as the narrower entryway widened out into a larger corridor.By the time they turned the corner and joined the fight,half of the squadron was already down for the count. 

As Logan punched one soldier and kicked away another,unleashing his claws,Wesley suddenly stared over his shoulder,and exclaimed,"What the hell are you doing?" 

Logan turned,and saw Shrike taking aim at him with the soldier's stolen rifle as the walls suddenly began to close around them."Fucking bastard,"Shrike snarled,pulling the trigger as Electra sent a bolt of electricity streaking towards him,but it was too late.The bullet punched through Logan's shoulder,spraying his own blood on his face as the bolt hit Shrike and threw him backwards down the hall as the walls closed between them,sealing like doors. 

They were now trapped in a featureless white room,ankle deep in unconscious soldiers,as the lights suddenly came on,making Scorpion wince in pain and shield his eyes as Electra came to Logan's side. 

"Are you all right?"She asked,visibly concerned,as he grabbed the wound,blood oozing out between his fingers. 

"I'll be fine,"he snarled,walking towards the nearest wall.Had Shrike lost his mind?Or was he being controlled by someone else?Either way,they were busting out of here. 

It was then he smelled the gas,and it was the last thing he smelled before he hit the floor. 

    10 

    Angel smelled the gas,and watched as everyone around him toppled to the ground like marionettes suddenly cut from their strings,but he was unaffected.Sometimes not needing to breathe had distinct advantages. 

But he was supposed to be a mutant,not the undead.So Angel closed his eyes and let himself fall to the floor(although he partially landed on top of a fallen soldier),and played dead,which wasn't hard for him at all.In fact,closing his eyes was all he needed to do to play dead,although it wasn't playing by any means-he was dead.But presumably these guys didn't know that. 

Two minutes went by before he heard metal gears engage,a tremble shivering through the floor as one of the walls scraped aside,and he heard the footsteps of several men enter the room.He listened carefully and judged it to be about a dozen people,mostly men. 

"That one there,with the silly hair-that's our dear Wolverine,"a man with a haughty,Eastern seaboard accent said,as Angel felt himself kicked aside,off the fallen soldier.They were dragging their comrades to safety first,outside the hallway."Inject him and the girl.Scorpion can be dealt with more easily." 

"Who are these guys?"A soldier asked,and Angel knew he was referring to him and Wesley. 

"I'm not sure,"haughty man-the leader,obviously-replied tentatively."The Brit didn't manifest any obvious abilities,but the pretty boy exhibited some interesting traits.He's worth more study." 

Pretty boy?Angel wasn't sure if he should be flattered or insulted. 

Angel felt himself grabbed by the shoulders,in preparation for being dragged away."Do we inject him too?"The soldier asked. 

Angel opened his eyes and gazed up at the soldier,who gasped in shock and almost dropped him."It wouldn't help,"he told him,springing to his feet and tossing the soldier across the room. He went straight into his friend,who was approaching the fallen Logan with a rather wicked looking needle. 

Angel quickly grabbed the man dressed in a grey green jumpsuit,figuring since he wasn't wearing the army fatigues of the others he had to be the haughty voiced leader.He tried to pull his sidearm,but Angel was too quick,grabbing him from behind and crushing his throat with his forearm as he reached down with his other hand and pulled the man's automatic pistol,pressing it to his temple.It was amazing how quickly he stopped struggling. 

The soldiers who came with him all pulled their rifles and aimed them at Angel,but he made sure they all saw what a compromised position their leader was in,with his own weapon aimed at his own head."Throw the guns down,or you'll be scraping the commmander's brain off the wall with a trowel,"Angel snarled,tightening his grip briefly on the man's throat.He was turning a convincing shade of red,his eyes bulging,the stench of fear coming from him almost overpowering. 

The soldiers exchanged confused looks,unsure how to proceed.Hadn't this ever happened before?  
That would teach them to neglect the undead. 

"Tell them to do it,"Angel growled in his ear,loosening his choke hold just enough to allow the man to talk. 

"You won't kill me,"he croaked,his voice little more than a harsh whisper."They'll shoot you dead." 

"They can't,or weren't you watching the surveillance tapes when we came in?I'm impervious to bullets,asshole."Angel then lowered his voice to a silky whisper,assuming more of an Angelus stance-these monsters deserved Angelus if anyone ever did."And I'm not going to kill you right away.First I'll shoot your kneecaps out,so if by some miracle you do survive this,you won't be walking away,ever.And,if you continue to piss me off,I'll start on your arms - "  
"You wouldn't dare,"he growled,but the stink of fear gave the man away:Angel had successfully terrorized him.In a louder voice,he said to the confused soldiers,"Lower your weapons.Do as he says."Then,with far more confidence than Angel knew he was feeling,he added,"This freak won't be getting out of here alive." 

He was right about that,but only in the technical sense-he wasn't alive when he entered,either. "Give them the antidote,"Angel demanded. 

The man feigned confusion."What are you talking about?" 

Angel tightened his grip on the man's neck again,reminding him who was in control here."The antidote to the gas,the one you were going to give your men.If you continue to play games,I'll start breaking your bones one at a time until you have none left.Clear?" 

He nodded,temporarily unable to speak,and while Angel knew he should on some level feel bad about threatening harm to a human,he couldn't.He was in on the kidnapping of Cordy and who knows who else...and worst of all,he seemed to know Logan.Was he one of the ones who altered him?Logan had never said it to him,of course,but it was obvious he was in the dark about how he acquired those lethal claws of his,and the pain attached to the topic was almost palpable.Maybe if he was human,he would have ascribed his bad attitude to personality alone,and while there was some of that,a lot of it was defensive,a reaction to pain.Angel knew all about pain-giving and receiving.It wasn't all vampires who could smell pain like a shark could scent blood in the water,but the sadistic ones-like Angelus-learned to acquire it. 

And if these bastards hurt Cordy,they were in for pain humanly unimaginable,soul or no soul. 

    Logan couldn't believe he had done it. 

After all the planning and waiting,escaping his handlers had been surprising easily,and he managed to get into the main power complex for the base that had become his prison before the lockdown alert sent emergency admantium doors crashing down,sealing him inside.Not that he cared.In here he could do whatever he wanted to,and what he intended to do would free them all. 

The room was dark and crammed with hulking machinery that smelled of grease and ozone, sending out strange shadows in the dim emergency light that made the room look like the engineering section of a spaceship in a science fiction movie. 

If he remembered correctly,there was some kind of master control;all he had to do was call off the lockdown,and shut down the power,main and auxilliary.Then the only things keeping them here  
would be humans with guns.In other words,nothing. 

He thought he saw it,a sort of large circular table in the center of the room,bright with green and red lights that pulsed and threw living shadows on the far wall,but then he heard something under the thrum of the machines,smelled someone... 

"Wolverine!Shit,did you cause all the chaos upstairs?"A man said,making him turn,hands formed into fists but his claws still sheathed-for the moment. 

It was a fellow mutant,judging from the bland blue jumpsuit he wore,and after a moment he recognized him:Shrike.They had experimented on him too,if what he said could be taken at face value. 

"What are you doing here?"Logan asked,unnerved and suspicious.How had he gotten in here after the emergency doors had slammed down?And better yet,why was he here? 

Shrike smirked,as if he was an idiot for not knowing."I'm a telepath,remember?They can't block me all the time.I thought maybe I could help." 

"That's okay,I think I got it down,"he replied,still suspicious. 

"I don't think you do,Wolverine.It's an insane plan.It'll never work." 

Logan glared at him,and realized he wasn't acting right.Considering this was an escape attempt, he seemed remarkably calm,and he smelled...clean."How did you get in here?" 

Shrike shrugged nonchalantly."Like you.I slipped away." 

"No-in here.In this room." 

"I knew what you were going to do,and where you were going.I beat you here."It was then he heard a strange noise,metal scraping metal,and soldiers in oil sodden coveralls (specially grimed to hide their human scents) suddenly appeared on the catwalks above,aiming down rifles and electronic weapons.But they were all aimed at him.No one aimed at Shrike;but then again,they didn't have to."So did they,"the telepath added,grinning smugly. 

"You fucking traitorous bastard!You've damned us!"Logan shouted angrily,launching himself at the asshole as he unleashed his claws,the familiar pain of them ripping through his skin overwhelmed by the pain of bullets tearing through his body and electric shocks knifing down his adamantium skeleton.But he didn't care,as his sudden dive surprised the telepath,and Logan's forward momentum carried him into Shrike,his claws stabbing through Shrike's chest as he fell to the floor. 

Shrike kicked him off,wide eyed with pain and terror as he choked on his own blood,and as Logan felt his consciousness fading away,he consoled himself with the knowledge that,even if he didn't secure their escape from this living hell,at least he killed the fucking prick who ensured they'd be trapped here for the rest of their miserable lives. 

    Logan jolted back to consciousness,sitting up and releasing his claws unconsciously,and it took him a moment to make sense of the confusing scene around him.He was surrounded by fallen soldiers,both unconscious on the floor and standing by nervously with their rifles slung over their backs,and then a voice said,"Nice of you to join us,Logan.I could use a little help here." 

He turned towards the sound,and saw a tall man dressed in black pressing a gun barrel to the temple of a man whose military casual clothes made him instantly think "handler".The man also had him in a chokehold for good measure,and he was standing with his back to the wall,so none of the soldiers could get fancy and sneak up on him. 

Angel.What was he..?Oh right-now it all came flooding back to him. 

He jumped instantly to his feet,making one anxious soldier jump in return and aim his rifle at him,but Logan didn't even look at him as he lashed out with a claw and sliced his rifle in half,the barrel and much of the ammo tumbling to the floor. Logan carefully stepped over the bodies,heading towards the handler,who was becoming more visibly alarmed as he came closer.He thought he was worse than a gun pressed to his head?Good,very good-he intended to be. 

"This was a set up all along,wasn't it?"He demanded angrily,no longer paying attention to the remaining soldiers.He was angry enough to kill them all,guns or no guns."Why?What was the fucking point,handler?!" 

"What are you talking about?"The handler replied,while Angel just gave him a curious look. 

Logan retracted his claws until only the one slicing through his index finger knuckle was out,and he pressed the tip just above the man's left ear,hard enough to just break the skin and make him wince."Tell me.Or don't you want your ear?" 

The stink of fear coming off of him was pretty awful now,making him reek like a sweatsock doused in vinegar.Even Angel wrinkled his nose at the stench."Now let's start again,or you'd better hope the military has a good plastic surgeon.Shrike works for you,and he's been fucking with all of our memories.Why?Did you want us back that bad?" 

"W-we wanted Electra,"he answered haltingly,trying desperately not to move so he didn't accidentally lop off his own ear."Scorpion was a secondary target,and you were a lucky break." 

"Why did you want Electra?" 

"Her powers.We wanted her before,but we were unable to retrieve her before the situation at Alkali Lake went critical.Unlike you,Shrike understands and agrees with our goals in the project.He is a true patriot." 

"You never had Electra?"He repeated,frowning at his own false memory.It made sense.Shrike cast himself as the hero,and Logan as an also ran,but also a psychopath who killed a soldier in cold blood.He didn't think that sounded right."Why did the situation grow critical at Alkali Lake?What happened there?" 

"I don't know.We believe a mutant blew it up." 

"Who?" 

"I don't know.I wasn't there." 

"I was never at Alkali Lake?"Electra said.He glanced over his shoulder to see her getting to her feet,scowling at her own conflicting memories.Scorpion was now coming to,as was Wesley,and they all appeared confused."Why do I remember being there?" 

"Shrike's a telepath;he's been messing with our heads,implanting memories and burying others,"Logan told her,glaring at the handler for tacit confirmation.He didn't do anything,but he didn't need to - Logan knew the truth now.And he wondered how much experience Shrike had at burying memories. 

"He said he was psychic,"Scorpion said,now sounding dubious. 

"Well,he's full of a shit."Logan replied,so angry he felt like he was going to explode.That mutant Uncle Tom led them back here with the intention of enslaving them all once more,although it would be a new experience for Electra,whether she knew it or not. 

"Cordelia,"Wesley said,walking over to a soldier and ripping the rifle out of his hands.He looked like he wanted to fight him over it,but a single evil look from Logan put the soldier in a docile mood as Wesley shouldered the rifle strap.""Where's Cordelia?What have you done to her?" 

"Yes,what?"Angel repeated,and turned the gun down,aiming it at the handler's leg. 

"Nothing,"he instantly replied,his voice going up an octave in terror."We've barely begun preliminary testing of her abilities.She's fine!" 

"Where is she?"The Brit repeated,sounding surprisingly serious and deadly. 

Angel gestured with his head for Logan to move aside,and he did.Angel then shoved the handler forward violently,aiming the gun at his back."Take us to her.Now." 

The handler looked briefly like he was going to protest,but looking between Angel and Logan,he changed his mind. 

Logan looked to Electra,who appeared deeply troubled(and he couldn't blame her.It also explained that impulsive kiss back at the motel-Shrike had to do something to keep them from talking about him),and asked her,"Do you think you could do something about our friends here?" 

It seemed to take her a moment to understand what he was asking."Oh,of course,"she finally answered,and held up her hands,palms facing outward.A bolt of blue fire seemed to spring from them,hitting the nearest soldiers,and then it seemed to jump from one soldier to another,as if completing a circuit.They seemed to go rigid before falling unconscious to the floor,joining their previously fallen friends.Only the handler was left standing,which seemed to increase his anxiety.  
"I guess that's why you wanted me,huh?"Electra said to him,her voice icy and lethal,azure eyes narrowing in hate. 

He swallowed hard,justifiably afraid. 

Angel shoved the handler forward,closely following him,as Wesley and Scorpion trailed behind.As Electra joined them,Logan stopped her with a raised hand,and said in a quiet voice,"Take care of them,and get them out.I'll join you as soon as I can." 

Her responding look was curious and doubtful."What are you going to do,Logan?" 

"I'm going to find Shrike,"he admitted,feeling the rage boil through his veins like molten blood."I have to finish what I started fifteen years ago." 

"Meaning?" 

"Meaning this time,I really am going to kill him,"he said,walking off in the opposite direction. 

    11 

    When the emergency lights went out,Logan knew Electra was on the job,and doing quite well without him. 

In the renewed chaos,it was easier to sneak around,and easier to follow Shrike's scent trail,which seemed to lead him deeper into this Escher like maze of a base - where walls might suddenly appear where there were none before,and corridors looped around each other in a manner so complicated it was guaranteed no unauthorized personnel would ever end up here without escort.Which just proved how traitorous Shrike really was.And even though he felt hopelessly lost,Logan had a feeling he knew where Shrike was headed,and he ran as fast as he could,hoping he wasn't too late. 

He stopped as he heard voices ahead,and lights seemed to inexplicably appear in the darkness, oozing from beneath the cracks of a door hidden inside a wall.He couldn't quite hear what they were saying,but he knew the sound of Shrike's voice,and after determining he was inside with three different men who were much closer to the door than he was,Logan moved. He dug his claws into the small vertical crack of the door and shoved it open so violently on its track it warped with a scream of tortured metal. 

The closest man,who was beefy and older than most of the soldiers he had seen (Logan assumed he was some sort of leader),spun and pulled his gun,but Logan slashed it from his hands and gave him a flat footed kick to the knee that cleanly snapped the bone in his leg with a sound like a branch cracking in an ice storm. He screamed and fell to the floor,grasping his injured leg and sobbing in a rather undignified manner as the second man,clearly a soldier,brought his rifle to bear and moved in on Logan.But he moved at exactly the wrong time,as Shrike had pulled his weapon and fired as well,and the unaware soldier was shot in the back,the bullet from Shrike's rifle bursting through his chest at bone shattering force and spraying Logan with his blood as he hit the control room floor,as dead as Shrike deserved to be. 

As shocking as that was,Logan didn't give Shrike any time to recover.He launched himself over the body of the fallen soldier and leaped over the control table,tackling Shrike and taking him down to the floor before he could get off another shot. 

The third soldier was very smart.Deciding he wanted none of this,he ran out the door.Logan could hear his footsteps as he hastily retreated down the outside corridor,and he briefly wondered if he was off to get reinforcements when he decided that the boy was probably just legging it for good,the smartest thing to do at almost any given time. 

He could have killed Shrike right then,but he didn't want to,not yet.He retracted his claws inside his hand as he punched him in the side of the head,and he felt a bone crack on impact even as Shrike kicked him off and tried to scramble away.Logan grabbed his leg and pulled him back as Shrike suddenly shot his hand out,metal spike first,and drove it into Logan's shoulder,aiming for the heart and missing by several inches.He brought up his other hand for another try,spike oozing out of his hand while dripping blood,but Logan pinned his left arm to the floor by stabbing his clawed right hand downward until the tips sunk about an inch into the ground,taking Shrike's arm with him. 


	4. Part 4

Shrike snarled,tears of pain running down his cheeks,and Logan grabbed the hand he still had in his shoulder,not letting him remove it.It hurt,but he'd had worse.And before he could ask him a single thing,the traitor spat,"It should have been me." 

Logan glared at him in annoyed confusion."What?" 

"Me.Those claws should have been mine;I should have been the weapon,"Shrike snapped, somewhere between angry and mournful."If you hadn't come along,they would have tried harder, but then you fell into their lap,and they gave up on me." 

For a second,Logan wasn't sure he understood,and then he didn't want to understand."You wanted them to mutilate you?You wanted them to vivisect you and give you a metal skeleton?" 

"You never understood,Logan,and you still don't,you ungrateful bastard." 

"Ungrateful bastard?!"If it wasn't for the ugly pain in his shoulder,Logan would have thought this bizarre,Twilight Zone conversation was just a drug induced dream. 

"You were chosen;you were special,"Shrike continued,like Logan was really the insane one here."You were the vanguard,the first self-contained human weapon that they had a hope of controlling.But you stupid fuck,you fought them every step of the way.You could have had everything and you threw it away because you were a pigheaded asshole who never realized what a gift he was getting." 

"Gift?They experimented on me like a fucking guinea pig!" 

"You could have had the world by now,you idiot!" 

"Fuck the world!I don't want it,"Logan spat back,yanking Shrike's hand out of his shoulder as he retracted his claws and freed his other hand.He was tired of him and this stupid conversation. 

Shrike was completely mental,a total basket case,unless he was brainwashed so thoroughly by these madmen the original Shrike-whoever he was-was completely lost now. 

Logan got to his feet,ignoring the throbbing in his shoulder,and kept a careful eye on Shrike as he struggled to his feet.It was obvious he didn't heal as fast as he did;he was clearly hurting, grabbing his bleeding left arm and cradling it to his chest like a wounded child,but his gaze remained baleful and wary."You're not leaving here alive,Logan.Not this time." 

He snorted derisively,not even bothering to argue the point.Of course he would.As Shrike had pointed out in the bar not so long ago,he was a hard man to kill.But Shrike was not."What happened last time?"Logan wondered,keeping his claws out just in case he got it in his fucked up head to trying another stupid move."Did I blow up the base at Alkali Lake?" 

"I have no idea:.Thanks to you,I was in the intensive care unit when it happened.I was lucky to survive." 

"I thought I'd killed you." 

"You would have if it wasn't for the medical team."Shrike shook his head,seemingly in disgust. "You're a waste,Logan.You always were,and you always will be." 

And with that,Shrike dove for a fallen rifle behind the command table. 

Logan saw it and went for him,slashing the rifle to pieces with a single sweep of his claw,but not before Shrike had fired two bullets into the table,making the console spit sparks before the lights on its surface flickered and died.Logan grabbed Shrike by the neck and slammed him back first onto the dead command table,snarling,"What have you done?" 

Shrike grinned at him with blood smeared teeth,a rictus grin that had a hint of hysterical madness in it."I triggered the self-destruct,dumb ass.Now we're all going to die." 

    12 

    "When?"Logan demanded,shaking him hard."How much time do we have left?Tell me,damn it!" 

Shrike laughed,blood oozing from the corner of his mouth,and his eyes were completely vacant.If there had ever been a human being behind them,they were long since gone,and Logan felt a sort of sick pity for the poor bastard;they had washed his brain so thoroughly he was little more than robot."Not long enough.But those who won't embrace their destiny deserve to die." 

"I don't have a destiny you fucked up freak,"he snarled,and finally asked him what he needed to know."Did you take my memories,Shrike?Did you erase them?" 

Shrike giggled again,a picture of madness so vivid Logan felt suddenly shamed to be manhandling such a helpless,pathetic creature."I didn't need to-they already had." 

Logan felt cold inside,as if his blood had become ice,and maybe it had.Bugfuck nuts or not,he believed him.They had screwed with his mind long before Shrike had come along,and he wondered what they had done with Shrike to make him this way. 

"Aren't you going to kill me?"Shrike asked,strangely gleeful. 

Logan glared at him."Is that a request?" 

"It's what you do,Wolverine.You're a killing machine." 

Logan was so angry he wanted to smash his head through the command console,crack his skull open and see if there were any brains left inside his head... 

He stopped,horrified at his own train of thought.He was not a machine;he could not be programmed.They may have fucked with his head,but he was not their puppet.He was Logan-and he served no one.He threw Shrike down violently and stormed out of the control room,Shrike shrieking with laughter as he shouted after him,"You can't fight it,Wolverine-you're a killer!You were made to kill-it's your destiny!They made us what we are!" 

Logan heard gunshots,and broke into a run,Shrike's howl of madness fading away into the cacophony like it was born to it. 

    Cordelia wondered what the hell was going on,and what was taking Logan so long. 

The lights went off,chaos ensued,and then the lights came on again and the chaos seemed to die down.Now the lights had just gone off again,and it was eeriely quiet,but she was waiting for...something."Come on,Logan,"she hissed under her breath,arms wrapped around herself as she sat on the edge of her cot in the dark."I'm right here.You said you could find me.Prove it already." 

She thought she heard a noise outside her cell,voices,and she stood up,facing the darkened door."Logan?"She asked tentatively,as tiny filaments of electric blue suddenly snaked around and through the metal door,tiny arcs of lightning,and she heard a loud metallic clank as the lock suddenly released.The door swung open on its hinges,and she saw the slim,weaselly figure of Bertram with a brunette woman beside him,making her heart sink...until she noticed the tall man standing behind them. 

"Cordy,are you all right?"Angel asked,sounding concerned. 

She was so relieved she felt like hugging him,but Bertram was in the way,so she didn't. 

"What do you think?"She snapped irritably."I love being caged up like a rat.Can we get out of here already?" 

"Sounds like a plan,"Angel agreed,as she gave Bertram a dirty look.She wanted to ask Angel or the gun toting Wesley who the woman and the large,muscular guy with them were-she figured they were good guys since Wesley wasn't aiming his gun at them-but suddenly the hall was crowded with other people emerging from their unlocked cells.There were maybe ten others,and in the darkness they appeared normal-but who didn't? 

Suddenly,a weird alarm sounded,a loud whooping sound different than the one she heard before,and Bertram exclaimed,"Shit!" before grabbing her around the neck and holding a knife to her throat.She was afraid to swallow as she felt the cold,sharp steel pressed against her skin. 

Wesley raised his rifle,and the strange woman raised her hand,but Bertram snapped,"Don't even think about it,Electra.If you don't do what I say,the bitch loses her head.Clear?" 

A scowling Angel took a step forward,but he swung her in his direction,tightening his grip,but apparently it had been a distraction,as the dark,muscular guy reached out and grabbed Bertram by the neck.He did nothing else,but Bertram's grip went slack and she quickly slipped away as Bertram continued making weird little choking noises,frozen like a statue,his eyes bulging outward and looking almost neon white in the dimly lit corridor."Actually,I need some clarification,"Muscle Guy deadpanned,then let go.The weasley little man fell to the floor like a rag doll,beyond all muscle control,although he made several of those strange,gasping fish out of water noises before growing as silent as he was still.What the hell had he done,give him some sort of demon version of the Vulcan nerve pinch? 

"Are you okay?"The woman asked her,and before Cordy could even ask her who the hell she was,Muscle Guy shouted,"Company!" 

Wesley shot at some soldiers rounding the corridor off to their left as they plastered themselves to the wall.He missed,but he made them duck back around the corner,while the woman raised her hands and a bolt of blue lightning seemed to shoot from her palms,nailing a group of commandos as they came around from the other side,sending them collapsing to the floor with blue sparks crawling along the barrels of their rifles.Unless she was some kind of weird energy shooting demon,Cordelia figured she was a friend of Logan's.Did he have friends,exactly?But it was still a good bet she wasn't a regular human. 

Before Wesley or the woman could take another shot at the soldiers,other mutant captives who were closer suddenly beseiged them,and after an extremely brief flurry of gunfight,shouting,and some rather painful sounds of fists pounding flesh,there was nothing but silence. 

She tapped Angel on the shoulder-he'd hit the wall in front of her,in what she assumed to be some sort of protective stance(to act as a human shield for any bullets that may have come her way-she really appreciated the sentiment,if not the pessimism inherent in the thought)-and told him flat out,"I want to get out of Stalag Thirteen now." 

"We're working on it,"he claimed,exasperated,as another soldier went flying,yelling until he hit the wall and then bounced down hard to the floor,pinning his rifle beneath him.A figure came around the corner,making Wesley raise his rifle,but Muscle Guy grabbed the barrel,and shouted down the corridor,"Fucking took your time!Got Shrike?" 

It was the sillhouette of the hair that gave the shadow away as Logan.She couldn't help but smile to herself.She told them he'd kick their asses. 

"There's no time for that,"Logan said gruffly(like he could say something any other way)."We have to get the hell out of Dodge now;this place is gonna blow!" 

All the freed mutants around them were gone so fast it was like they were never there at all."Come on!"Logan added needlessly,leading the sprint down the hall. 

They moved after him in a pack,like some large and ungainly animal,with Wesley deliberately taking up a stance at the rear,mostly backing down the corridor with his rifle out,as if a soldier covering a squadron's retreat.What,did he think he was the hero of an action movie now?Maybe all the machismo Angel,Logan,and Muscle Guy were oozing had rubbed off on him,or he felt like such a weenie he had to join in and pretend he could do it too. 

"You've set it to blow?"Muscle Guy shouted to Logan,who occasionally paused to deck a soldier and turn his rifle into Shredded Wheat. 

"It ain't my fault!"Logan claimed,annoyed,as he smashed a commando head first into the wall. "Shrike is a nutjob,and he set it off before I could stop him." 

"Where is Shrike?"Angel asked,although something in the tone of his voice suggested he already had an idea. 

It was then she noticed,out of the corner of her eye,Wesley turn around to face front.There was a strangely blank look on his face,all the tension she spied earlier gone,and he quickly took aim with his rifle and fired,shooting Logan in the back. 

The force of the blast threw Logan forward,dropping him to his knees on the floor,and Angel grabbed the rifle and yanked it out of Wesley's hands before he could fire again.Cordelia slapped Wes as hard as she could across the face."What the hell's wrong with you?!"She snapped as he staggered,and Angel thrust the gun into Muscle Guy's hands and went to help Logan.He was making a strange gasping noise as he collapsed on his side,they heard someone laughing even over the scream of the sirens. 

Wesley blinked rapidly,as if he'd just woken up,and grabbed his face."Ow!Why'd you hit me?"Only then did he look at his hands curiously,as if wondering where his rifle had gone.Noticing Muscle Guy had it,and Logan was on the floor,struggling to breathe with a big gaping hole in his chest,he turned to her and asked,"What's going on?" 

The wall ahead of them suddenly started growing outward,threatening to seal the corridor,as the laughing man-a muscular guy with a blood smeared face and a bleeding arm-appeared on the opposite side.He leered at them,his laugh sounding totally creepy and wrong."See what happens when you ignore your destiny,Wolverine?You should have killed me when you had the chance, sucker." 

That's when the mutant woman screamed in rage and a huge bolt of energy shot from her hands,slamming into both the growing wall and the man with the force of a bullet train.He let out a brief,aborted scream as he was thrown backwards as violently as a car in a hurricane,the wall bending and warping on its recessed track,ceasing its forward progression.The woman leaned against the wall,as if exhausted by the energy expenditure,and Cordelia knew it wasn't her imagination-the corridor was about twenty degress warmer than it had been before she fired her Godzilla bolt of doom. 

"What happened?"Wesley asked again,thoroughly baffled,but the dawning horror on his face seemed to indicate he guessed he was responsible for Logan's sucking chest wound. 

Angel wrapped one of Logan's arms around his shoulders and helped him stand,as Logan continued  straining to breathe.The bullet must have hit one of his lungs,and it left a huge exit wound,a big bloody hole as large as her two fists put together,and...oh Christ,did she just see a glimpse a silver,part of his adamantine skeleton?God,she was going to pass out while barfing again. 

"Come on,"Angel prompted,leading the way,all but carrying Logan,who was conscious,although unable to do a hell of a lot.Frankly,she didn't know how he was still conscious,fighting so hard to breathe.He was probably too stubborn to pass out. 

She was sure they were dead,but the mutants and commandos that had cleared out before them had cut a large path of broken down doors.When Cordelia felt the warm desert breeze on her face,saw the black sky sprinkled with stars overhead,she wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry:they had escaped.But they weren't out of the woods yet. 

"Drive,"Angel said,tossing the keys to Wesley before he shoved Logan into the backseat of his GTX,quickly falling in after him,Muscle Guy close behind. 

Wesley jumped into the driver's seat as Cordelia got in the other side,moving over so Electric Lady could pile in beside her.As soon as he started the engine Wesley put the pedal to the metal,gunning out of their before the doors were even closed. 

For a moment it was like the car didn't want to go,the back end of the car struggling to find purchase in sand as inexplicably slippery as ice,but finally it got a grip,and they shot forward like a bullet from a gun.The sudden speed threw them back against the seats as the headlghts sliced tunnels in the darkness,flashing off something silver far ahead of them.Cordelia guessed it to be a fence. 

"Logan,did I shoot you?"Wesley asked,sounding horrified.He kept his eyes resolutely ahead, gripping the steering wheel like he was afraid he'd let go."I don't remember...I'm sorry,I don't know-" 

"It wasn't you,"the Electric Woman said to him,even though she was looking into the backseat. "Shrike is a powerful telepath;he took control of you,if only for a moment." 

Cordelia glanced back as Logan snarled breathlessly,"Shut up and drive."He had his arms crossed over his chest tightly,as if he was trying to keep something inside him from falling out,which was one of the grossest thoughts she had ever had.His head was hanging down,as if he was deliberately not looking at them so they couldn't see the pain on his face,and out of respect for his machismo wishes she turned back around,only to see the ghost of the fence had become larger,and for some reason right now looked almost skeletal. 

She had braced herself for the inevitable impact when the world around them exploded. 

She expected to hear it first,but the bright flash of light reflected off the rearview mirror temporarily blinded her first,and,after the briefest of lag times came the noise:a roar that was almost more physical than aural,a force that seemed to pass through their bodies like angry ghosts,a pressure so great it temporarily deafened them,a keening white noise the only sound as the glass of the windows shattered all at once.The car slewed as if pushed by invisible hands,the ground feeling temporarily like gelatin beneath their wheels.Cordelia figured she screamed,but she couldn't hear it,so she didn't know for sure.She only knew they were dead. 

But Wesley somehow fought the car back onto solid ground,and when her senses started coming back to her they were still hurtling forward into the bleak desert landscape,the velocity of the wind turning the grains of sand in the air to pellets that stung their skin through the gaping holes where the windows used to be.Even though she saw bleeding cuts on her arm from the flying shards of glass,Cordelia started laughing."We made it,"she said,and then repeated,in a louder,more triumphant voice,"We made it!" 

Muscle Guy started laughing too,and even Wesley reluctantly started chuckling,while the woman beside her gave her a faint but knowing smile. 

"Wonders never cease,"Angel deadpanned,but he sounded like he was smiling too. 

Cordelia sunk back in her seat,and couldn't wait to see home again. 

    13 

Two Days Later 

    Logan glanced at his chest briefly before pulling his shirt on,remembering the wound that had been there just yesterday.The hole had more or less closed after a day,both front and back in spite of its size,but the ache had remained,along wih something that was neither a scar or a bruise but something in between.Now even that was gone,and it no longer hurt at all,which seemed amazing since the gunshot wound had given him an unwelcome window into his own internal anatomy.But he could recover,eventually,from almost anything.That's why he was the ideal guinea pig,and Shrike was not. 

He shrugged on his leather jacket and took a final look around his room in the Hyperion Hotel,a place he had hoped never to see again.But his life seemed to be one big joke sometime-it was like it said "You don't want to do that again?Let's see if we can't make you." 

But he had a couple of answers,right?Some clue to why he was what he was,and what may have happened? If he could trust the rantings of a madman.But,truth be told,he always had a nagging suspicion he was made to kill,to destroy as much as possible in the least amount of time.It was an impulse he had to struggle with more than anyone could know,even Shrike,and sometimes it almost felt foreign,as if the desire and the need was coming from something other than him.But maybe that was just a comfortable excuse he told himself,so he didn't have to accept his own homicidal impulses.He didn't know anymore(if he in fact ever knew). 

Sometimes he was so very tired of fighting,but he didn't know how to stop.Or what would become of him if he did. 

Logan had just picked up his leather jacket from the dusty blue armchair in the corner when he heard a rap on the door,and turned just as Naomi pushed it open and peered warily inside. 

She took one glance at him and the coat in his hands,and said,"You're doing a Marcus,huh?" 

Scorpion had taken off on his own not longer after they escaped the Dry Lake base.They had to stop at a hotel before the sun rose, as with no windows it would have been impossible to shelter Angel from the sun.Unless they shoved him in the trunk,but he didn't seem to like that idea. 

Besides,Cordy really wanted to go somewhere where she could see how bad she looked before  
returning home,and no one was in the mood or shape to argue with her. And it was there that Scorpion wished them well,but he had to go-he was convinced there were other bases(and he was  
probably right),and the others responsible for his mutilation were out there.And he wasn't going to rest until he hunted them all down.Logan completely sympathized,and might have joined him, but his collapsed lung hadn't completely healed and reinflated yet. 

By the time sundown hit and they were back on the road,his lung was working again,and the wound was almost totally closed,if a bit sore.Okay,not a bit-it felt like he had been worked on by a jackhamme. But not anymore. 

He shrugged on his jacket,dipping his head in response to her comment."I still need answers,and I ain't getting them sitting here." 

She came into his room and leaned against the back of the door,looking tired and somewhat dejected."I need some too.Some of my real memories are returning...I was thinking I might go  
back up North.I think I have family up there." 

He nodded,wondering if he had family,and what had become of them.Did they ever wonder what became of Logan,or did they think he was dead?Or were they dead?"Be careful.They seem to have set their sights on you." 

"I don't know why." 

"I do." 

She glanced down at her hands,and snorted a small,disgusted laugh."Oh yes,I guess I do too.My power. No pun intended." 

"It's an ability many people would love to control."With great reluctance,he added,"You know those people I was telling you about,in Westchester?They might be able to help you." 

She nodded,glancing down at the faded grey carpet."I know,and maybe I'll get around to there sometime."She glanced up at him through the veil of her chestnut brown hair."Is that where  
you're going?" 

Reluctantly,he admitted,"Eventually.I promised someone I'd come back." 

She nodded in understanding,not asking him any more questions about it,which he appreciated.But in the ensuing silence he felt awkward.Loathing the feeling,he finally said,"Listen,the thing that happened back at the hotel...Shrike just didn't want us talking about him.I'm sorry it happened,so let's just forget it and move on,okay?" 

"Are you sorry?"She asked curiously,her blue eyes sparkling with mirth."Because,in all honesty,he didn't exactly have to push me very hard to make me kiss you.Maybe you weren't the hero I  
thought you were back then,but you're even cuter.In a hairy sort of way." 

"Hairy?"He replied,seemingly offended,but in truth it was an act.She was as attractive as she was deadly. 

She gave him a sly,playful smile,and asked,"You don't have to leave just yet,do you?I mean,we probably won't see each other again for a long time,and after all that has happened ... would another couple of hours around this place really kill us?" 

He looked her over,smiling,and took off his coat,throwing it back on the chair."Nothing seems to kill me,"he replied coolly,although this time the remark didn't seem to cause the angsty twinge in his gut that it usually did. 

She shut the door,and sauntered up to him,her eyes as bright as sapphires."Lucky for you,"she replied.This time,when she kissed him,she really meant it. 

So did he. 

THE END 


End file.
